TIBETAN FOLK TALES

This book was especially republished to raise funds for these charities & many more...

33% of the publishers profit from the sale of this book will be donated to charities.

A GREAT READ FOR ALL AGES!

The 49 illustrated little stories in this book are told as the people sit around their boiling tea made over a three stone camp-fire. They have been handed down from father to son, from mother to daughter, and though often filled with their superstitious beliefs, through them all run a vein of humor and the teachings of a moral truth which is quite unexpected.

Herein you will find stories like The Wise Bat, The Tiger and the Frog, The Wise Carpenter, The Rabbit and Bumblebee Bet and many more, each infused with the unique flavour that is Tibet.

These tales were gathered by Dr. A. L. Shelton on his trips among the Tibetans, around their camp-fires at night, and in their black tents high up in the mountains in the early 1900s.

Every country has its folk-lore tales that have always been a joy and pleasure to the children, not only of their own land, but of other lands as well.

It is found among the old, old histories of the Tibetans that a female demon living among the mountains in Northern India mated with a monkey from the forests of Tibet, and from this union sprang the Tibetan race of people. The greater part of their literature is of a sacred nature, telling of their creation, of the formation of the world, of Buddha and his miraculous birth and death, of his reincarnations and the revisions of his teachings.

May these stories add a little to this pleasure and enjoyment everywhere, in whatsoever tongue they may be translated or in whatever land they may be read.

33% of the profit from the sale of this book will be donated to the Tibetan Centre in London.

YESTERDAY'S BOOKS RAISING FUNDS FOR TODAY'S CHARITIES

Excerpt from TIBETAN FOLK TALES

THE CONY WHO GOT INTO BAD COMPANY

ONCE UPON A TIME, a long, long time ago, when the world was young and new and the mountain tops were all peaks and the garden of Eden had not been pushed up towards the sky by the big high mountains of Central Tibet, men and animals understood each other. In a desert place, away among the mountains, was a little hut of mud and stone, and in this little hut with its dirt floor dwelt an old Lama. His house furnishings were very meager. There was a small piece of beaten felt upon which he slept at night and sat on cross-legged most of the day. He had no clothing and no covering at night except the one gown that he wore. He had some baskets of grain and sacks of tsamba, an earthen-ware pot for tea, and a small wooden bowl from which he ate. He dwelt in this house away from people that he might meditate and pray a good deal, and so acquire holiness. Every day he sat pondering the questions of life, and thinking about the little animals as well.

There was a cony by the name of Susha and a rat by the name of Mukjong. These two were great friends and cronies, and both pretended to be friends with the old Lama, but at night when he was asleep for a little while, they would sneak into his hut and steal all the grain they could find. One day the Lama decided that these two were not really his friends, but were just pretending to be, and that they came to see him every day to discover what he had in the hut and then plan to come back at night and steal it. He said, "I'll just set a trap and catch them." So he fixed one of his round baskets into a little drop trap and that night caught them both.

Next morning he found them, cut off their whiskers, ears and tails and turned them loose. They were very angry and said to him, "We belong to the Aberrang, and that is a class that doesn't lie, nor steal nor do any bad or dishonest thing. And you know we are your friends and have not stolen your stuff at all. We just wanted to see what you had in your basket and now see what you've done to us. Well, we're going to our own kings and ask them to send an army to take your grain for sure. So you better make a lot of traps to catch us all when we come."

The rat, very much ashamed of his condition, went to the king and showed him what had been done to him, telling him that he was innocent and asking that his king organize an army and attack the old Lama as a punishment for what had been done to him. The king, who was an old man, agreed to do so at once if the king of the conies would aid him. But when he asked the king of the conies he refused to help, as he knew the rat had been guilty. After the delegation had gone, the king of the conies called the cony to him, who came, looking very much ashamed, and told what had happened to him. The king said, "You only got what you deserved. When you are found in bad company you are judged as guilty as they. The rats are thieves and robbers and have been since the beginning of time, and when you are found with that kind of people you are thought to be just as bad as they. The conies are not a thieving folk, as you well know, and my advice to you is never to be found in the company of the rat or his kind of people again."

If you are without kindness, you will meet no kindness in return. Tibetan Proverb.

Table of Contents for TIBETAN FOLK TALES

The Wise Bat

The Tiger and the Frog

The Cony Who Got into Bad Company

The Story of the Donkey and the Rock

Story of the Foolish Head-Man

How the Fox Fell a Victim to His Own Deceit

The Ingratitude of Man

Covetousness

The Wise Carpenter

The Story of Drashup and the Goddesses

How the Louse Got the Black Streak Down His Back

The Man and the Ghost

The Wicked Stepmother

The Story of the Two Devils

The Wise Woman

The Three Friends

The Rabbit and Bumblebee Bet

How the Rabbit Killed the Lion

How the King Lost His Great Jewel

The Story of the Three Hunters

The Hunter and the Unicorn

The Decision of the Official as to Who Owned the One Hundred Ounces of Silver

Story of the Prince's Friend

How the Raven Saved the Hunter

The Two Thieves. (A Black Tent Story)

The Golden Squash. (A Black Tent Story)

The Story of the Bald-Headed Man

The Man with Five Friends with Different Colored Eyes (A Black Tent Story)

The Story of the Violinist

How the Sacred Duck Got His Yellow Breast

The Two Little Cats

Story of a Juggler's Tricks

How the Wolf, the Fox and the Rabbit Committed a Crime

The Pewter Vase

A Rabbit Story

The Story of a Juggler

The Story of a Turquoise

A Wise Idiot

The Man and the Monkeys

The Story of the Tree of Life

The Story of the Man with the Goitre

The Story of the Beggar

The Wily Poor Man

The Quarrel of the Five Friends

The Frugal Woman

The Story of Yugpacan, the Brahman. From Jaschke

The Story of Da Jang. From Amundsen

Like unto Solomon. From Jaschke

Tibetan Song

Tibetan Music

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Freya Love"A great bedtime story full of magical creatures and fluffy bunnies."

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